Book Review: The ADHD Book of Lists: A Practical Guide for Helping Children and Teens with Attention Deficit Disorders

November 26th, 2008 By: Diane Trim in Adolescent Development, Articles, Classroom Management, Special Needs

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Did you know that…

• Three times as many ADHD teens fail a grade, have been suspended, or have been expelled from school as their peers.
• Teachers should have well established classroom procedures that become automatic for students, especially ADHD students.
• Teachers should use private, pre arranged nonverbal signals or signal words to gain an ADHD student’s attention.
• Parents should make time to help their ADHD children clean, sort, and dump contents of backpacks, notebooks, desks, and rooms.

Sandra Reif’s 496-page book The ADHD Book of Lists contains information about the disorder and practical suggestions for special education teachers, regular education teachers, and parents who need help with an ADHD child. It’s not a book to be read in chapters or cover-to-cover, but rather it’s designed to be a teacher or parent reference about ADHD.

Reif has compiled 97 lists that address ADHD diagnosis, behavior problems, support strategies, accommodations, organization, academic difficulties, collaborating with parents, and what to do during an IEP meeting. Each bulleted list has a brief introduction and the list itself. Some lists also refer readers to other sources and resources on the topic.

The information in the book is well organized, but the best part is that the book is formatted to encourage photocopying. The binding lies flat when the book is open, the pages are 8 x 11, and each page has a small copyright blurb. A teacher can find a list about medication side effects, photocopy it, and give it to a concerned parent. A special education teacher can reproduce the visual cue drawings in the appendix and hang up visual cues for get out your pencil and paper, stop that, listen, or write this in your planner. Better yet, the special education teacher can photocopy the IEP section for a new teacher who has never attended an IEP meeting or hand a copy of the dos and don’ts list to a veteran teacher who is convinced her ADHD student is just lazy and irresponsible.

Even though the book is designed to help teachers teach and support ADHD students, it’s also just a good teaching reference. Reif has included lists about improving reading comprehension, learning styles, and teaching math that outline good teaching practice for any student, not just the ADHD student. She includes tip sheets for parents, too, so teachers can photocopy the sheet and give the strategies to a parent whose child is struggling reading, writing, math, or organization.

I recommend this book as a great reference tool for special education teachers who have many ADHD students on their case load or a regular education teacher who has many ADHD students in his class. Both teachers could benefit from the quick lists and teaching tips in the book. Any teacher would love the photocopier-friendly layout and binding.

Tags: ADHD, book review

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